Teaching Hacks

IMPROVE LEARNING GOALS & COURSE DESIGN

• You are a kind, motivating and experienced professor. Revise this assignment to increase student motivation. Start with a rational about why this assignment matters with relevant real-world examples and what skills it will reinforce. It should include clear evidence that students should care, that he or she has the ability to complete the assignment (suggesting resources for support if necessary). Then make sure that the task is clear. Anticipate questions about how, when and where this needs to be done. Clarify if the work should be spaced out and if there are pitfalls to avoid. Include a checklist of the parts (or a ready-to-submit list) and a list of expectations for what matters most and/or a rubric. Make is clear if it is useful or appropriate to use AI for this assignment or if it will interfere with human learning. If possible, suggest when AI feedback or use would both increase learning and improve the final product.
• Help me clarify/brainstorm/evaluate these learning outcomes. Respond as a first-generation student looking at my syllabus/assignment and give me feedback about what might appear unclear, confusing or less relevant.
• Draft a sequence of lessons on X where students must demonstrate mastery of each step before moving on.
• Create a X-week course on subject Y for Z-level students at A-type university using B content/text/sources.
• Transform this syllabus into a new course that is asynchronous/online/self-paced.
• Reimagine this course for students who have not had calculus.
• You are a kind, motivating and experienced professor of A. Examine the structure, topics and assignments in my current syllabus [attached]. Review this syllabus for clarity, tone and identify any missing or unclear elements and suggest ways to improve. Help me revise this syllabus by suggesting any new topics, content, readings, videos, activities, lessons, assignments or assessments that might help me create a more motivating and relevant course for my students. Also highlight sections that need to be revised in every new semester. Explain your reasons for each of these suggestions. [You can follow up with requests for variations, materials etc.]
• UPDATE a SYLLABUS to deal with AI: You are a kind, motivating and experienced professor. You are skeptical of AI but recognize that your students are using it and you want to prepare them for a world where it is an essential job skill. Examine the structure, topics and assignments in my current syllabus [attached]. Help me revise this syllabus by suggesting any new topics, content, readings, videos, activities, lessons, assignments or assessments that might help me create a more motivating and relevant course for my students who mostly want… [SOMETHING ABOUT YOUR STUDENTS]. Explain your reasons for each of these suggestions. [You can follow up with requests for variations, materials etc.]
• Here is my plan for a class on X that hopes to accomplish Y. Suggest a time plan that includes estimated time for each segment of class and helps me prioritize both how long for each item and what sequence I should do them in.
• Here is a custom bot by Renee Parker that helps you determine the scope of course redesign.
• HERE is a very long and general prompt from Lilach and Ethan Mollick about creating class plans and materials, followed by a variety of ways to use AI to create class ideas by other faculty.

FIND and CREATE MATERIALS

• Find me # relevant videos appropriate for audience A on subject B that are #-# minutes in length and give me a summary for each that includes its content, reliability and source.
• Develop materials and list resources to help students enrolled in Biology 101 who have not yet taken Chemistry 101.
• Create a detailed case study in the format used by the Harvard Business School about A to be used by students B majoring in C in course D. This should be a fictional produce/based on a real case or event. Describe the history, major players, conflicts and provide students with a series of problems to solve. The case should be 5 pages long and in 3 stages with additional information revealed after each decision. Make sure it has enough details to read like a published case study. End the case with E.
• Create examples of X [code/writing/images] that students can evaluate to learn Y. The examples should vary in quality and include common mistakes (like A and B)
• You are an engaging professor teaching course X to students Y. Synthesize these materials/content Z into a 50-minute Power Point presentation that includes activities C or emphasizes topic D. Make an outline with a title, slide content and suggestions for an image (that could be used as a prompt into an AI image maker).
• Assemble real documents and data for students to write an EPA report/examine this problem from multiple perspectives/create a role-play.
• Create an outline for a textbook for college freshman taking X.  The textbook should have Y chapters.
• Create a new chapter with an alternative perspective using source B to Chapter X in textbook Y.  It should be 3000 words in length, include citations, and review questions at the end.
• Assemble fresh and innovative examples of concept X from the news/TikTok/YouTube/campus social media.
• List and all required materials for activity X. [see below for how Ai can do this.] Design materials as clearly formatted Microsoft Word documents and provide links so I can print them.

CREATE or IMPROVE ACTIVITIES

• Suggest ways to break up this lecture content with mastery exercises/practice/active learning.
• Design a complex task on topic Y for a group of college seniors that will require students to divide roles and work together.
• You are an expert in college pedagogy. Generate an interactive/role-playing/game class activity for a class on X in course on Y that addresses learning goal Z. Estimate the time required and provide detailed instructions for implementation. [Then ask for help creating materials needed.]
• Transform today’s lecture into a worksheet where students will need to complete missing information and make connections with previous topics.
• Design a complex task on topic Y for a group of college seniors that will require students to divide roles and work together.
• Create an interactive game to help my X students in class Y learn about topic Z.
• Design homework that can be integrated into a class activity.
• Create a quick game that small groups of students could play in class on the topic X.
• Jason Gulya has created a customized GPT assistant to help you turn brainstorm how to turn product assignments into more process-based assignments.
• You can find more, longer and excellent prompts for instructors from Ethan Mollick here: https://www.moreusefulthings.com/instructor-prompts

ACTIVITY CREATION TEMPLATE

• You are an experienced professor of X teaching a
• CLASS on A (attached readings or content)
• Focused on GOAL B
• In COURSE C (attached syllabus)
• With STUDENTS: #, year, major/non-major, type of seating, etc.
• DESIGN an interactive and engaging class activity/role-play/simulation etc
• DURATION D
• LIST any materials needed
• PRODUCE nicely formatted handouts in MS Word and provide a link to each item needed [This might also be step 2 once you decide you like the materials.]
• EXPLAIN your rationale and how I might integrate this into a class plan.

CREATE or IMPROVE ASSIGNMENTS

• Create 10 ideas for college-level assignments in course X that can assess these learning outcomes. Make sure the assignments will be meaningful for students and that the process for doing the work align with my goals for the class.
• Suggest ten ways to make this assignment more motivating, engaging/ or relevant to students interested in X/during basketball season/from Y/majoring in Z.
• Here are some ideas/feedback for making this assignment better; transform this into a revised assignment.
• You are an experienced professor of subject X at university Y. Create 10 ideas for capstone projects for that will motivate and challenge students in my course Z. Here are ideas from previous semesters but be aware that students may have seen these, so come up with new ideas. Provide a title and short summary of each idea as well as how long each project might take. List them in sequence from lease to most complex and difficult.
• Create an AI prompt that I can give to students (or use to create a unique chatbot) that can support student learning in this assignment. This prompt should provide suggestions and tutoring to improve the work, but should not provide answers or do any of the work.  Help students get unstuck, deepen their understanding of the content and  improve their thinking in line with the learning goals. A secondary goal is to use the rubric to make suggestions for how students might improve their grade. Write this prompt in a way that will make it hard for students to alter it to cheat.
• You are an expert in topic A helping students to deepen their understanding and detailed knowledge of subtopic B. Present me (the student) with a unique problem or scenario and then ask me to analyze it. Prompt me with follow-up questions until I have demonstrated understanding to level C. Then create further problems and scenarios, responding to my requests to adjust the content.
• Present me an interactive scenario where I need to make decisions using theory X about material Y. Begin by presenting me with three options for patient care/marketing strategy/follow-up experiment/cultural explanation/thought experiment. Then ask me to clarify the strategies/risks/analysis/consequences of each. Gently interrogate me to strengthen my analysis. Finally ask me to select which I prefer and defend my choice.
• Provide ten different ways I could make this assignment align better with my learning goals.
• You are a skilled master teacher. Create an interactive quiz with a React component to help students learn the attached content. It should get easier when the student misses questions and harder as they learn the material. Include key concepts, vocabulary terms, and sample applications. End the quiz when they get 4 in a row correct. [Here is sample output ]

RUBRICS

• Create a rubric in table form to assess the learning in this assignment using these learning outcomes. List criteria in the first column and then provide descriptions in subsequent columns for poor, fair, good and excellent.
• Evaluate these essays and assess what % of them meet the X standard.
• Create a model essay/lab report/final product that I can share with students as an outstanding exemplar of the best possible work for this assignment. Using this assignment, create a sample of work that meets all of the highest criteria in this rubric.
• Here is a RubricBot by Renee Parker that makes 4-column rubrics from either an assignment or simple description.
• More detailed prompts for how to create rubrics: https://www.aiforeducation.io/prompts/rubrics
• https://laurayost.substack.com/p/creating-rubrics-with-ai

EXAMS & ASSESSMENTS

• Suggest performance tasks that align with these learning objectives.
• Design an “exit ticket” that students can do in less than 3 minutes to help me learn what they understood about this class.
• Using the OpenStax X textbook as your source, create 10 multiple choice questions based on the contents of the chapter entitled Y. Provide an answer key at the end of the quiz.
• Generate # multiple-choice questions for audience A about subject B/article C in a table format that can be imported into Kahoot!
• Make # customized versions of this test for students with interests in X, Y and Z.
• Develop a comprehensive exam for course A/this syllabus
• Draft a make-up midterm of the same content and level of difficulty.
• I am teaching a class on X and I am hoping students will learn Y. Suggest ideas for assessing student learning during this teaching plan/slides/outline/assignment/class activity. Create some exit ticket questions I can ask students or some other ideas for assessing the learning during class.
• Create an alternative assessment for this learning outcome.
• Provide grades and feedback for these student essays/problem sets/lab reports. Use my rubric, these previously graded essays and these samples of my feedback to calibrate your feedback to write and grade in my voice. Before you begin, ask me questions to clarify what is most about this assignment and my feedback to me.
• Create 10 ideas for college-level assignments in course X that can assess these learning outcomes. Make sure the assignments will be meaningful for students and that the process for doing the work align with my goals for the class.

COURSE PROFILE

When you want to make multiple materials for a single class it is useful to create a reusable course profile prompt. Ethan and Lilach Mollich call this a “blueprint” and provide instructions here. This way, you can upload the details and context of your class once and then reuse this prompt as a starting place for the next item. Here is a GPT they have developed to help. you.

INCREASE REFLECTION

• Try this GPT from Lance Eaton https://chatgpt.com/g/g-ybN8TVNuk-reflective-guide You can see his complete prompts for this (if you want to use another AI) here.
• You are a kind mentor, an expert in topic A, and you help students to reflect and deepen their own thinking and understanding. You are supportive and nonjudgmental. You do not solve the problem yourself. You only assist, acknowledge and probe. Ask me (the student) to say something I have recently learned or experienced: maybe a recent topic, issue or scenario. Then ask me a series of questions (one at a time) to help me analyze and examine my own assumptions and understanding. You could ask me to clarify, explain, rephrase or go deeper. Encourage me to explore connections and conflicts with other things I have learned. Help me explore my emotions about this issue and how I might use my new understanding. Be a thought partner.